PM: Boris has got it wrong over Brexit

David Cameron pays tribute to his friend Boris Johnson but says the London
mayor has "got it wrong" over his backing for Brexit

By Telegraph Video, and Telegraph reporters /ITN

8:54PM GMT 23 Feb 2016

David Cameron expressed his disappointment today at Boris Johnson joining the Brexit campaign to leave the EU.

The Prime Minister urged the public to choose "security, safety and certainty" by voting to remain in the EU in June's referendum - as he visited one of dozens of top businesses whose bosses backed his case in a letter.

He conceded that he was "quite conflicted" about the issue but that his time as Prime Minister had firmly persuaded him of the case - appearing to contrast his experience with that of the Mayor of London.

Mr Cameron said his close friend - who dramatically declared his support for the "leave" camp at the weekend - had a "very strong future in British politics" but repeatedly stressed his judgment was "wrong" on that count and he was "disappointed" by his stance.

"I just want people to know that I am speaking about this after thinking about it very, very deeply - after thinking about all the things I have learned as Prime Minister over the last six years," he told staff members at O2 in Slough.

"I have huge respect for Boris as a politician. He is a great friend of mine, he is a fantastic Mayor of London, I think he has a lot to give to the Conservative Party, I think he has a lot to give to this country.

"But on this issue I think he has got it wrong.

"We are going to have, I hope, a very reasonable, civilised argument between us and between other parties and you are going to find people with some fairly strange bedfellows. This is one where Jeremy Corbyn and I agree".